It's IRWA day! My local RWA chapter is meeting today. Yes, I'm still not at 100% health-wise. This damn cold is hanging on with claws. But the meeting I'm supposed to have before our chapter meeting is with a buddy who is also sick. So we can share our tissues and hand sanitizer.

Writing and publishing doesn't have sick days, so I'm sucking it up, loading myself with cold meds and skipping the traditional after meeting margarita. Our world is not one that rewards us for sitting at home. Stuffy nose be damned.

So here are a few tricks I've learned through my years of retail work that keep me from infecting others, and from picking up all the nasty germs around us.

1. Don't touch your face

This is not as easy as it sounds. We all tend to itch our nose, rub our eyes, and cough into a fist. Not to mention eating and drinking. But avoiding touching my face is the first tactic I practice when I'm sick to avoid spreading the cold germs. It's also super important in avoiding getting germs from others who aren't as careful. And if I do touch my face, I go onto the next tactic...

2. Use hand sanitizer

Any time I touch my face, use a communal phone, wipe my mouth after eating, etc, I use hand sanitizer. I know this isn't as good as washing your hands, but if I washed my hands after every time I touched something, they would shrivel and crack like fossilized raisins. In the absence of sanitizing spray for surfaces, I've also been known to rub hand sanitizer on surfaces I've touched. It works in a pinch.3. Cough and sneeze into your elbow

Yes. I know dabbing is dead. But by blocking your sneezes and coughs with your elbow, you not only block the spray, but you prevent your hands from getting dirty. I tend to wear at least a light weight jacket when I'm sick. That way I don't have to sneeze on my bare arm. I don't know about you, but the crook of my elbow is way more sensitive than my hand. So giving that area a little buffer helps.

4. Wear ALL the makeup

If I'm going to the grocery store, running non-professional errands, or working at my EDJ where they keep the temperature a smidge below hell, I don't bother with makeup. But on days where I have to appear like I'm a functioning human and not a walking zombie, I layer on that full coverage glory and add some highlighter to disguise the sweat. It gives the illusion of me not an inch from death.

5. Very hot or very cold beverages

Any time I get a cold, there is almost always a sore throat associated with it. Whether from a cough, or drainage, or just snoring all night because I couldn't breathe. (Sorry again, hubs!) So I make sure I constantly have something on hand. Preferably with a straw so I don't have to touch a screw on cap, or accidentally rub where my mouth was on a mug. The liquids are good for the colds, and make me go to the bathroom more so I have more opportunities to wash my hands.

I'm sure there are some good ones I'm missing. Tell me what your tricks are to being a functioning human while feeling under the weather. How do you get shit done when your body isn't keeping up? ​